Ricardo Lamas: ‘I Want That Fight Against McGregor’-Exclusive

UFC featherweight Ricardo Lamas came on BJPENN.COM Radio this past weekend and opened up about his current two fight win streak and who he wants to fight next.

Check out some of the highlights below and make sure to listen to the interview in its entirety HERE.

Lamas commented on his current success and life after losing to José Aldo.

“In this last fight, going into it, I had kind of a new mindset. Last year I was really preoccupied with the title fight. I spent a lot of time and energy going after it, I sat out for a while. The last fight I was just kind of saying to myself, you’re about to be on the first card in Mexico, this is like a historic event. I come from a Mexican background so it was a huge opportunity for me and I just kind of told myself, like you have to enjoy what you’re doing now, you’re doing something literally millions of people wish they could do and you’re living your dream, this is what you wanted to do since you were a kid, so have fun with it. That’s exactly the thought process I had going into my fight and I felt like I performed a lot better thinking that way.”

Lamas attributes his new mindset to his success and thinks that it’s the key to getting back to the top to face the champion.

“I’ve been there, I know I can get there, so now its like let’s have fun with what we’re doing. You keep performing the way you are, you keep winning the way you have been and the title shot will come back to you. So now I just want to have fun with what I’m doing and really enjoy this. This is a part of my life that I don’t want to let pass by me without having fun with it and giving it my all and just really taking everything in and experiencing it for what it is.”

The title challenger also described his experience fighting in Mexico City, on the UFC’s first ever event in Mexico.

“Just sitting in the tunnel waiting to walk out, they kind of have the curtain closed and I’m waiting for my music to come on and all the fans that were right there hanging over the top were sitting there taking pictures of me, telling me to go out there and kick ass and just represent. Even though I was born in the United States, they accepted me like I was born right in their city, in Mexico City.”

Then, like most of the featherweight division, Lamas expressed his feelings about a certain Irish fighter.

“If Dennis Siver gets injured for that fight against Conor McGregor I’m jumping in there. I’ve said it before, I want that fight against McGregor, I don’t think he’s deserving of the title shot yet and he better hope that Siver doesn’t get injured because if he does I’m coming in there to whoop his ass.”

He insisted that there is no real anger towards McGregor, he just wants the chance to show people that the hype is not warranted.

“No, there’s no dislike at all. I don’t harbor any bad feeling towards him, I don’t wish him any misfortune, it’s just that every interview I have people ask me about him, he’s everywhere, he’s always in everybody’s mouth, I just want to be the one to say hey look we’re the guys that have been putting in the time and the work in the UFC in the featherweight division and he’s not who he says he is. He can’t wrestle, as soon as he goes up against a wrestler like me or somebody else the whole world is going to see his flaws. I’d love to be the guy to put an end to the hype train and put an end to all the talking.”

Of course, a lot of people are already talking about a potential matchup between McGregor and Aldo, but Lamas doesn’t think McGregor has anything the champ hasn’t seen before.

“I don’t think he matches up very well with Aldo. The one thing that he does is he might throw different kicks than everybody else does, but Aldo’s went up against good strikers. Aldo went up against Mark Hominick and look what happened, he made Mark Hominick look like the Elephant Man after the fight. It’s not like he hasn’t been up against good technical strikers or anything like that and Aldo is one of the best technical strikers in the game. He doesn’t make mistakes, he’s very technical and it’s hard to take him out of position and hard to catch him with his hands down. McGregor’s a good fighter; I think he’s a great fighter. He’s got good stand up, he comes with kind of a different game than everybody else, spinning kicks and all that, and I do that shit too. I just want to have the chance to get in there and mix it up with him.”

There you have it ladies and gentleman. Who wants to see Lamas vs. McGregor?

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